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The following essays by Lorenzo
Hagerty are now available online:
Earth
"What if the Pentagon is Right?"
Peace
"To the Barricades!"
(also available on CounterPunch.org)
"Homo Divinus, An Evolutionary
Advantage"
"(Re) Building Paradise"
Current Events
"Are You Sure The Election
Was Real?"
"A Resonant Event"
"Condoleezza, please stop smiling"
"Dr. Rice is Either Incompetent
or a Liar"
"England We Need Your Help"
"Just Say No To Oil"
"Latest Poll Results: 97% Oppose
Bush's War"
"Mythical America, R.I.P.
"Patriotism and Free Speech"
"Stand Up and Be Counted"
"The Difference Between America
and Americans"
"The Fourth Amendment Has Just Been
Canceled"
"The Time To Speak Up Is Now!"
(December 5, 2001)
"To All Who Are Angry"
Miscellaneous
"Turn
on. Tune in. TAKE CHARGE!" (speech)
"Psychedelic
Thinking and the Dawn of Homo Cyber" (speech)
"More
Thoughts About the Spirit of the Internet" (speech)
"The Healthcare
Intustry and Cyberspace" (speech)
"Veterans, Freedom,
and the Millennium" (speech)
The Empire be damned! Let them
spy on us if they dare. We have nothing to hide. Let's stand
up and be counted as an integral part of this great global
brain that has already begun to take form on this beautiful
little planet called Earth.
During the recent political campaigns,
one of the rich white men we were allowed to choose between spoke about
there being two America's, one rich and one poor. Yet when you look at
the way the alleged vote was divided, it didn't track that way. A lot
of poor people voted for Bush and a lot of rich people voted for Kerry.
The vote split down the middle (or so we've been told) on non-economic
issues, like gay marriage and abortion. This divide we're experiencing
isn't so much an economic divide as it is a cultural divide. But make
no mistake about it, there are now two Americas, Fascist America
and Free America, but Mythical America is no more, and in actuality
it never existed anyway.
As was the case some tens of
thousands of years ago, when at least three different human
species coexisted on Earth, more than one species of human
is now inhabiting this planet. I call the new human species
Homo divinus. If you look closely, you will find members
of this new species everywhere. Perhaps you are one yourself,
for now that consciousness has become evolution's willing
partner, self-selection (the willed mutation from one species
to another) has replaced chance as the best way to improve
life on this planet. [Full
Text] (RIGHT CLICK
here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
If, as many of us
believe, it is possible to return this planet to the paradise
it once was, then why haven't we simply gone about doing it?
Suddenly, the answer seemed so clear, and so simple: We transform
our world by first transforming our own consciousness. [Full
Text] (RIGHT
CLICK here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
When the story about possible
catastrophic climate change first appeared in Fortune
magazine early this year, it became obvious that climate change
has now moved beyond the realm of people who are environmentally
conscious and into America's corporate board rooms as well.
. . . We are talking here about something with the power
to be civilization-changing. . . . The moment has
finally arrived for concerned humans everywhere to stand up
and be counted on the issue of global warming. The Pentagon/Fortune
crowd have now made it OK to talk about these issues in public.
No longer must environmentally-aware people remain circumspect
around their friends, families, neighbors, and business associates.
It is time drop our shields and get everyone on this planet
talking about what us humans are doing to our life support
systems here on Earth. What if we did that every day at work,
at school, at church, and everywhere else we go. What if we
asked every store clerk we deal with what they think about
the Pentagon's report? What if everyone finally gets
it? … And what if we don't? [Full
Text] (RIGHT
CLICK here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
For the sake of argument,
however, let us say that there is absolutely no conflict of
interest in Condoleezza Rice’s orchestration of the war in
Afghanistan. Let’s say she honestly believes she is making
her decisions based solely on the best interests of our country,
and that it is only a coincidence her former Big Oil masters
are the primary beneficiaries of her policies. Even then,
if I were her media advisor, I would advise her to get rid
of that ever-present smile. It is just not polite to gloat
so much over one’s successes. And this is particularly true
when success is paid for by sacrificing the lives of so many
thousands of innocent children, women,
and men ― whose only offense was to live in a country
through which Big Oil coveted another pipeline. [Full
Text] (RIGHT
CLICK here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
. . . Another example of her
chutzpa was where she blandly smiled and said she couldn't
remember if she had bothered to tell Bush that there were
70 Al Queda cells operating in the US . . . and those were
only the ones we knew about! Couple that little tidbit with
the fact that one of Bush's daily briefings was titled "'Bin
Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States"
and at the very least this is incompetence. Personally, I
don't believe Dr. Rice is that stupid, which only leaves one
alternative, she is lying. So what's really going on here?
Let's follow the money. . . . How very clever it was of those
powerful businessmen to hide their point person right out
in the open. All this time we thought that Cheney was the
brains behind this criminal enterprise. But he may only be
a decoy. Could it be Dr. Rice who is the source of all the
bad policy coming out of this junta?
. . . What a shock it was then
to awaken to the news that the Bush people had already declared
Bush the winner, and that John Kerry was about to make a concession
speech. HUH? Did they really count every vote like they promised?
What about the 250,000 votes in Ohio that still hadn't been
counted? That was almost twice the size of the current margin
in Ohio. There didn't even need to be a recount or a court
fight. All Kerry had to do was to simply wait until all the
votes were counted. Isn't that what Edwards had promised just
a few hours earlier? Instead, Kerry simply folded, gave up,
quit.
The most important thing I
discovered is that there's a sizeable number of people who
are quite passionate about ending America's Wars on the poor,
the weak, and the less advantaged. . . . San Diego, a beautiful
but highly conservative California city. Perhaps its conservatism
stems from the area also being the home of several large military
bases. . . . Into this uptight city, which is full of gas-guzzling
SUVs flying U.S. flags as they speed along the freeways, rode
the quintessential American cowboy. Although I didn't see
his actual entrance, I am quite certain that Michael Moore
must have come into town riding on the world's largest white
horse. Under cover of a "book signing tour,"
Moore led the most exciting political rally I have ever attended.
. . . Unlike the slowly developing, fine-tuned speeches we
hear sliding out of the mouths of our politicians, Michael
Moore wasted no time getting to the point. . . . Postscript:
After Michael Moore had been autographing books for over an
hour, in a move reminiscent of their jack-booted role models,
San Diego police stormed into the auditorium shouting threats
of arrest to the people waiting quietly in line to have their
books autographed. [Full
Text] (RIGHT
CLICK here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
“Since we live in a country whose leaders
value opinion polls more than they value the will of the democratic
majority of voters, I thought it would be worthwhile to conduct
my own survey of public opinion to see if I could add something
of value to the national debate. . . . So what are we to make
of all these polls? My suggestion is that you only trust the
polls you conduct yourself.” [Full Text]
(RIGHT CLICKhere
to download the PDF version of this essay.)
“War, Famine, and Pestilence are now so close
that their faces are clear. We have seen such likenesses often
in recent days, for their features resemble those of Sharon,
Bush, and bin Laden. Together these Horsemen represent the
consciousness of an inflexible righteousness so rigid that
people with these mindstates have left themselves only two
options: victory or annihilation. People who are deeply attached
to these states of consciousness have lost their ability to
reason as fully empowered human beings. They are incapable
of comprehending any point of view that diverges from their
own, and their vocabulary no longer includes words such as
empathy, compromise, and fairness.” [Full
Text]
(RIGHT CLICK here
to download the PDF version of this essay.)
“The moment has arrived
for each and every one of us to speak out. To me, there is
no discernable difference any more between the Democrats and
the Republicans, but that doesn't mean I have no choices at
the polls. I think we actually have a three party system:
Green, Libertarian, and Rebublicrat. But I don't think those
first two parties will have much of a chance unless we begin
today to rebuild a free America. In November 2004, our cry
will be "To the Polls." Until then, the best
way to let the world know that there are still some freedom-loving
people in this country is to turn out into the streets.
First we demonstrate our unwillingness to send our children
to be slaughtered in a quest to enrich a few oil companies
and their military cousins like the Carlyle Group. Once we
have prevented the Bush-Cheney junta from depleting our treasury
and spilling innocent blood, we can focus on the important
business of restoring democracy to this land.” [Full
Text] (RIGHT
CLICK here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
“As you probably have guessed, I am talking
about eliminating our dependence or foreign oil and
then continuing on to completely eliminate our dependence
on oil altogether. You might tell me this would be too costly
or “painful,” but you cannot convince me that it is impossible.
After all, we put men on the moon and brought them back. And
we did so in under ten years with no better a technological
starting point than we have today for transitioning to alternative
fuel technologies. There simply is no better strategy for
ending this ill-conceived war on terrorism.” [Full
Text] (RIGHT
CLICK here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
“Our nation’s chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General
John Ashcroft, has been very clear in stating his belief that
emergencies call for a maximum exercise of government power
and a flexible interpretation of the Constitution. Following
their boss’ lead, the FBI is now advocating the use of drugs
and torture to obtain information from suspected terrorists.
And Vice-President Cheney tells us that this war on terror
will not end in our lifetimes. So get used to it America,
the land of freedom and justice for all is now officially
a myth.”
[Full Text]
(RIGHT
CLICK here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
“The work all Americans must now undertake is to quickly
restore democracy to America, for a moment of truth is bearing
down upon this nation like an out of control freight train.
I am speaking of the national elections in 2002 and 2004.
Out of the entire U.S. Congress there was only a single dissenting
vote cast against our unilateral attack on Afghanistan. Only
one person in over five hundred, Representative Barbara Lee
of California, had the courage to call for an end to the cycles
of violence that threaten to destroy much of civilization.
She is the only person we should vote to return to the next
Congress." [Full
Text] (RIGHT CLICK
here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
”If ever there has been a time for a calm and collected discussion
of all aspects of the perilous age we have just entered, it
is now. Opinions offered by persons who hold no actual power
to direct events on the world stage are just that, opinions.
They are certainly not “attacks." [Full
Text] (RIGHT CLICK
here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
“Who can doubt that humanity experienced an emotional unity
of consciousness on September 11, 2001? Never before, never
in the entire course of human history, has a single event
resonated in the minds of so many people at the same time.
This was a resonant event unlike any the world has seen before,
and now we must decide whether we are going to rise to the
challenge it presents or sink deeper into the pit of violence.
What we do with this tremendous opportunity for change will
most likely seal the fate of our species for the rest of this
decade, if not this century." [Full
Text] (RIGHT
CLICK here to download the PDF version of this essay.)
“If all of us who feel this way, all of us who seek justice
and not revenge, all of us who seek peace and not war now
speak up, then hope for a better world remains alive."
[Full Text]
(RIGHT CLICK to download the
PDF version of this essay.)
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